


A shit day in Detroit

by elitegoblin



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, but with asshole people, gavins shit day gets better i promise, mentions of sharknado, this is actually pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:55:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elitegoblin/pseuds/elitegoblin
Summary: Winters in Detroit are a shitty, shitty thing. Gavin gets some firsthand experience why.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 4
Kudos: 126





	A shit day in Detroit

There wasn’t a lot of things that could make a Michigan winter bearable. At least not if you were working in a police precinct currently terribly understaffed due to the common cold making the rounds again. 

The last people left standing were mostly androids and those of the human officers who had made the bad decision to sanitize their body from the inside out with large quantities of their currently favoured, high percentaged liquor, like Gavin had. At least that was his theory. 

In all honesty though, it just came down to bad luck. 

Crime had more or less ceased to happen as the temperatures had dropped way below zero, because not even the criminals liked to be out and about in the blizzard. Other people weren’t as sensible about the weather conditions.  
The fucking idiots kept driving and they also kept crashing, because lo and behold, warnings on the radio broadcast, the TV and even the windshields of their own trucks didn’t keep humans from gleefully plowing their summer tired trucks into patches of slush and black ice.  
And someone had to keep track of all the wrecks on the side of the road that kept piling up, because people kept trying to invent the sport of car curling. 

Gavin muttered something under his breath that even RK couldn’t decipher, and pushed his notebook back into his sopping wet jacket.  
Not that it would do any good, RK had the details of the accident filed away and sent to their workstation in the precinct already. But it gave Gavin something to do, and it was too cold to stand around without doing anything.  
Especially if one had saved themself from a skidding car by jumping into the only direction left: Over the railing of a small bridge and into a knee-deep brook conveniently just frozen enough for Gavin to crash through the sheet of ice. 

Following that of course, he immediately slipped in the muck and was now drenched to the bone.  
RK calculated that they had a few minutes left to get back into Gavin’s car before acute hypothermia set in, so the human was at least safe on that front for the moment. The driver who had almost mowed down Gavin had apologized profusely and left his details after Gavin finally finished shouting at him to read a fucking weather report and learn to drive, then went on his merry way to clear the road. Gavin wasn’t in a mood to continue playing traffic warden anymore, so he had called it a day and whatever happened now, happened.  
Anyone crazy enough to drive in this weather might as well deal with it themselves. 

Gavin stomped through the grey slush back to the car, already peeling his leather jacket off his shoulders and got into the car.  
RK slipped in next to him and inspected his own fingers. He didn’t like to admit it, but the cold made even him miserable. The Thirium strain he was currently using wasn’t made for weather this cold, and it’s more viscous state made his limbs move slower. Even turning up his internal heating - at the price of precious battery life - didn’t help much. 

“I’m not driving back to the precinct.” Gavin said, teeth still clenched to keep from shivering, as he warmed his hands on the heating vents. As they warmed up, he reached for a discarded gym bag on the backseat to swap his shirt for a dry one too.  
“I do not expect you to. Your vitals indicate you should get dry and warm up immediately.” RK wasn’t really in any mood to lecture the human on his own health, but old habits were hard to break. 

“Yeah no shit Sherlock. I’m just informing you that you either get your own ride back to the precinct, or I’m taking you with me. I can already hear the chucklefucks. What happened to you Gavin? Went ice fishing again? Fuck.” He let the engine amble for a minute more, before he pulled out of the parking spot and into the street without even waiting for RK’s answer.  
There was none, so he just assumed the android had decided to stay in the car for now.

Which meant he was coming home with Gavin. 

Gavin drove slowly, which was uncharacteristic for him, even in the snow. But the experience with the iced over street and his sluggish attention span didn’t make for the best condition to drive in anyway. 

“Would you like me to take control of the car, Detective?” 

Gavin glanced at the android, then back to the road.

“You know that I don’t let anyone drive my car.” 

“I know you put a lot of sentimental value on it. I do not wish for you to get involved in another accident today and possibly damage it.” 

Another sidelong glance before Gavin leaned back. He took his hands off the steering wheel slowly, as if he was trying to figure out if it’s trajectory held true, and when he didn’t take control of the car back within a few seconds, RK took that as permission to take hold of the systems. 

There wasn’t a notable difference in driving style between them, at least not under the current circumstances, so Gavin busied himself fiddling with the heating. 

“I’m only letting you do this because I’m exhausted to fuck and back.” Gavin still had to clarify. 

There were things he didn’t want to give up on. There were only so many things he had total control over and his car was one of them, even if an android always made for a better, safer driver. 

They rolled up to Gavin’s place without an incident, and Gavin actually had to shake himself out of this miserable place in his mind which the numbing cold hat put him in. He had trouble to get his keys into the lock, his hands still shaking even with the android's jacket over his shoulders. It had only taken a few minutes of Gavin in a miserably bad mood before the android had handed it over, but as soon as Gavin discovered the jacket apparently had heating elements in it's lining, he had graciously shut up. 

As soon as Gavin was in the door, the relative heat of the apartment hit him, making his skin tingle. Not caring that he was dragging icy sludge all over the floor, Gavin moved over to the coffee machine to put a whole new pot on. Hot drinks were good against the cold.

“Detective Reed, I’d suggest you take a shower and get into warmer clothes to prevent hypothermia and possible resulting illnesses.” RK informed him, and Gavin snorted. 

“What are you, my nanny?” 

“There are days where the thought comes up.” Though nothing betrayed it, Gavin knew the android was amused. He walked over to the coffee table and tossed the remote over, knowing fully well that RK had no need of the thing.

“Make yourself useful and pick a movie. I’m planning on spending the rest of the day under all the blankets I own.” Gavin told RK before he left to get that glorious hot shower his body was craving so much. 

When he returned to the living room, finally in some dry clothes - sweats and a dark, shabby hoodie and somewhat warmed up, he was surprised to find RK had brought his coffee over and apparently had taken Gavin’s earlier words literally and collected every single blanket in the house, including the duvet from the bed and those scratchy army surplus blankets he kept in the back of the closet. 

“This… is a bit excessive.” Gavin grinned at the ridiculous display and started to sort through the blankets until he had just two stacked on top of each other. 

“You said you needed every blanket. Human’s individual needs are… difficult to judge. And your behaviour is sometimes erratic.” 

“I do appreciate it.” With a sigh, Gavin made himself into the closest approximation to a burrito a human could achieve and flopped down on the sofa. Then, like an afterthought, he snaked a hand out to grab for the mug of coffee. 

“What have we got?” He inclined his head in direction of the TV and RK obliged him, turning the TV on to reveal the title sequence of one of Gavin’s favourites.  
“Really? You picked Sharknado?” 

“You like that one. I thought it might cheer you up.”

Gavin snorted and patted the sofa. “Come on, you don’t have to stand around there like a particularly disgruntled lamp. If we’re gonna watch this, you have to behave like a normal person for once.” 

“A normal person wouldn’t watch that movie. It makes no sense.” RK stated with an arched eyebrow, but sat down next to Gavin anyway. 

“Oh come on. You don’t watch it because you actually expect a tornado would have sharks in it. You watch it for the comedy. Otherwise they would never have made it to twentyseven of the damn things.” 

Gavin pushed a bunch of pillows against RK’s side to use him to prop himself up enough to watch the movie without getting a crick in the neck.  
After Gavin had twisted himself into a comfortable position, RK started movie with only the slightest yellow tint to his LED, and the sharks were flying around decapitating people after a short while. 

“I cannot fathom why you would like this. This is wrong according to physics, meteorology, biology and logic. And the actors aren’t very good.” 

“Aw man, stop shit-talking CGI Tara Reid or I’m making you watch Zombie Sharks from Outer Space next.” Gavin grinned and contently sipped his coffee. 

They watched mostly in silence, except for the places where Gavin had to share some trivial information that RK had no doubt already downloaded from the internet in a desperate attempt to understand who would come up with a plot as ridiculous as making sharks erupt out of tectonic plates. In the end, he muttered something about the inherent nonsensical values of Dadaism and settled for simply watching. Gavin suspected he did some digital shit like filing taxes or something similarly boring in another tab. 

“You know, I used to watch these movies all the time when I was young.” Gavin mused, just after the credits started rolling. “You’re right, they are shitty. But nothing will cheer you up more on a bad day than having other people have an even worse day. And let’s be honest, there’s not a lot of things worse than having to chainsaw flying sharks out of the air. Badass, sure, but also the very definition of a bad day.”

“You had a lot of bad days?” 

Gavin hesitated, but decided to answer. This was Nines. There was no one else who he would want to tell. “For a while. When I was younger I pirated some movies off the internet on a shitty laptop and coffee shop internet, and this is what I happened to get my hands on,” he gestured weakly to the TV. “I still like watching them, but… not always.” 

“I understand.” Nines angled his head away from Gavin, looking almost lost, so Gavin shifted enough so he was slipping backwards, his head hitting RK’s lap so he could look up at the android. 

“What are you being all mopey for now?”

“I… I know.” 

“About?” Gavin frowned, not getting what the android was saying. 

“I know about your past. Most of it at least. I’m sorry.” 

Gavin’s frown deepened, but he didn’t move away from RK. “Did you google that?”

“No. I have insight into most government records and those I have no access to I can hack into. It was the first thing I did when I was partnered with you. I needed to know who I was working with. I needed to know why you were being so hostile.” 

“You googled me because I was bitchy to you?”

“I googled you because you were being bitchy to each and every person that crossed your path, no matter your actual state of mind.”

“Goddamn, you’re a menace,” Gavin said and closed his eyes, but RK was surprised there wasn’t more bite to his voice. It wasn’t something he had revealed easily, so much was clear. 

“I only wished to understand you.” 

“And do you?” 

“I don’t think I will ever fully understand you. I can only hope to come close enough.” 

At that, Gavin cracked one eye back open, mustering the android with a curious stare. 

“So what’d you find? My whole sob story? Or is there anything you still need cleared up?” 

“I expected you’d take this harder, Detective.” 

“Goddamn. I’m off hours. Right now I’m not being a fucking anything, Nines.” Gavin sat up and turned to Nines, twisting uncomfortably. “I’m not freaking out on you because I trust you. Sure, not cool that you were going all covert ops on my ass back then, but if I had had any access on info about you, you bet your ass I’d’ve been in those files faster than a cat in a fish factory. If you know about the hospital records and the lawsuits, and all the other shit, you know why I ratted out that fucker that can’t even be called a Dad, alright?” Gavin huffed, surprisingly exhausted by the tirade. He muttered an additional “I know you won’t go off the rails with that” and let himself fall back down. 

RK was silent for a long time, but let his hands slip tentatively into Gavin’s hair. The touch was soft, apologetic in a way. 

“Just wish you hadn’t brought that up when it was already a shitty day.” Gavin sighed, and, against all odds, let himself relax into the touch. There were fights even he wouldn’t fight right now. Maybe ever. 

“Surprised you didn’t get scared away anyway.” Gavin admitted after a long silence. RK did that, falling silent instead of replying, and it always made Gavin ache for some reason he couldn’t put his finger on. 

“I didn’t get scared away after you threatened to find the biggest electromagnet in Detroit and pull my insides out if I got in your way.” Nines replied, and Gavin could fucking hear his returned humour. 

“Oh yeah? You looked thoroughly impressed.” 

“I hadn’t assumed you’d know what an electromagnet was.” 

“Oh god damn you bitch.” Gavin shot up, ready to grab the nearest pillow and engaged armed combat, but RK was faster, tightening his fingers in Gavin’s hair and pulling his head back. 

Without even thinking about it, Gavin immediately yielded, went with RK’s motion. Not a question of force, but of trust. Maybe something else.  
He wasn’t even sure if this was RK’s combat protocols kicking in, or something the android had decided was a good course of action in a casual setting. He didn’t care. 

“Fuck.” 

Gavin just barely managed to suppress a groan at the sudden pain. He screwed his eyes shut and tried not to think about how fucking much he liked it anyway. This was RK. A machine designed for killing, yet here he was, sitting on Gavin’s couch and refusing to let go. Even disguised through what seemed to be a preprogrammed reflex to subdue, he could feel how tender the android was being.  
There was pain, sure, but the way RK was looking at him, Gavin just knew he was being analyzed. All vital functions monitored, probably wired into some kind of internal killswitch where any sort of actual discomfort would register and make RK let go. He seemed like the type to take precautions like that. What a shame. 

Gavin swallowed. Hard. 

They were moving into a territory he had no map and no compass for. 

“RK…”, he trailed off. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to the android, who finally let go of Gavin just to trace a line down his skull, then the back of his neck. Either tender, or threatening. 

The former, Gavin decided and leaned in. 

He was being slow, painfully so. 

With each inch he closed in, he made sure to check how the android was reacting. If he would allow this, or if he would push Gavin away. To the human’s utter surprise, RK’s fingers curled around the nape of his neck carefully, like he was the one afraid Gavin would get spooked away. Which was bullshit, because the android could read all his vitals. There was no way he could mistake… oh. 

Gavin looked up, into RK’s eyes. Against everything Gavin had ever assumed, RK’s pupils were incredibly dark, mimicking the dilation of human pupils. He knew he was only inches away from RK, but he put up a hand to his chest. Immediately the android froze, but Gavin had to know. There was a low, steady thrum under his hand. Not quite a human heartbeat, but something more resonant. Definitely a double beat, but laced with the faint hum of electronics. It was a beating heart, and it was beating fast. How had he never noticed that? 

Gavin raised his eyes again, finding RK’s wide and uncertain. A vulnerability he had never seen in the android. He had actually never even expected to ever see the expression on him, but here they were. 

Gavin sat up, shifted until he wasn’t in an uncomfortably twisted position anymore. Instead he slung one leg over RK’s lap and put his forehead against the android’s.  
“Listen, I don’t know why you’re allowing me to do this -”, Gavin started, but RK stopped him with a motion, his hand moving from the nape of Gavin’s neck to cup his jaw, letting his thumb trail over his lips. 

“I care about you. Deeply so.” 

“I sort of got that now. It’s still a shit decision, I’m an asshole.” Gavin still managed to talk over the finger brushing his lower lip. 

“And yet I find your abrasive personality endearing.” RK mused and brought his other hand to snake around Gavin. Another attempt to keep him close, even though Gavin seemed to try his hardest to convince RK to push him away. 

“I just don’t understand why.” Gavin said, in a last ditch attempt to see if RK wouldn’t change his mind. 

RK sighed, shifted and put both his hands to Gavin’s face to keep him stationary. Focused. 

“Do you remember the day we met? When I first arrived at the precinct, people, including my brother, were scared of me. Most still are. They tried to be friendly but kept a careful distance. I was… lonely. Only you were ignoring right from the start that I could end you in any way that mattered. Maybe you knew but did not care, but your constant antagonism was… surprisingly delightful.” 

“God, you should have killed me when you had the chance. This is just sad.” 

RK shrugged lightly. “I could have let you die on many occasions. But every long term preconstruction told me the same thing: I did not want you out of my life.” 

Gavin finally managed to free himself from the grip but caught one of RK’s hands, kissed the palm. 

“You can’t just say shit like that, Nines. You’re going to make someone fall in love with you.” 

“I don’t need someone. Just you.” The android responded, and that hesitation in his eyes was back. But Gavin was long past the point where he found himself able to hold back. 

He leaned forward, one hand still pressed over the spot in RK’s chest where his heart was quietly thrumming and beating, and kissed him. He tried to put everything in it that he couldn’t put into words right now. He did love RK, he just wasn’t good at expressing … pretty much anything. 

For a second, RK didn’t move and Gavin fought down a sudden burst of panic, but then the android grabbed him, pulled him impossibly closer. He seemed to understand what Gavin couldn’t say. Gavin grinned against those perfect lips and tilted his head, forced himself up to use his body weight to press RK back against the sofa. He tasted strange, sweet with an almost bitter tang - completely synthetic but not in a bad way. He pulled away for a second, desperate for a breath that RK didn’t need, before he dove back in for more. 

Kissing RK was… not like he imagined. He had imagined all sorts of things, but in his fantasies the android was either the most inexperienced or the most accomplished kisser. In reality, he kissed like a desperate man, and Gavin couldn’t find any issue with that, because he clung to him as much as the android was refusing to let go of him. 

A third kiss and one of RK’s hands hiked up Gavin’s shirt a few inches, came to lay on the bare skin there like a brand. They slowly slipped down until RK was lying below Gavin, bracketed between his knees. 

Gavin looked at him for a long while, then sighed, lowered himself down until he was lying on top of the android, able to fit his head perfectly against RK’s shoulder and jaw. When the android started stroking through his hair again, he noticed that RK’s system was running unusually warm, but a quick glance upward revealed his LED to still be blue. Huh. Apparently he was still sort of worried about his human’s health. Gavin let out a content huff. 

“What are you thinking?” RK murmured, running a fingertip along the ridge behind Gavin’s ear. 

“Guess it isn’t such a shitty day anymore.”


End file.
